A Young Entrepreneur Pays It Forward

One of my mentors, Tonee Ndungu says, “without a mentor you stagnate and without a mentee, you leave no trail.” As a young, female entrepreneur growing up in Africa and running a business in Kenya, I have come to appreciate this statement.

I have been an entrepreneur for five years running Pluspeople Kenya Limited, an IT company based in Nairobi that provides affordable, cloud-based business management solutions to small businesses in the East African region. I am also an advocate for women in technology, and volunteer my time as a mentor with organizations such as AkiraChix, WECREATE Kenya and eMentoringAfrica (WEMA) that empower youth, primarily girls and young women for success.

Being an entrepreneur is scary, lonely and depressing. This is a reality for most entrepreneurs. Sometimes it feels like there is little room for failure – people are relying on me for their pay cheque. Few African entrepreneurs want to show their vulnerability and admit they are struggling. This is just one of many reasons that mentors come in handy.

My mentors are mostly older, experienced entrepreneurs, and other female founders my age. They are people who know me as an individual and have time for me. They are people who have been in the trenches like I have, or are right there with me, digging. I know they are rooting for my success and are as real with me, as I am with them. I am fortunate to be surrounded by mighty giants from whose shoulders I have stood and found success. They are the ones I turn to when I cannot find answers within myself and their perspectives give me the strength to fight another day. Without these people, I would have stagnated.

This is why I spend as much time as I do mentoring. Without mentorship, our young women would remain disconnected. Without mentees, our challenges are only one dimensional learning opportunities. Sharing our journeys, being open about the lessons we’ve learned allows mentees to soak up the information, leverage it and blossom. Most of us did not get to where we are alone. We got there with the help of entire communities behind us, cheering us on. It is only right to pay it forward.

My mentoring approach is simple. I share the books I am reading or ones I have read. If I am attending a networking event and can bring a plus one, I invite a mentee. Any skills-based training I attend, I share my notes, as well as the business skills I have picked over the years (for those wishing to become entrepreneurs). I also share my contact lists, always thinking about the next potential partner, customer, employer and resource for the mentee. A little goes a long way.

In order for the mentor-mentee relationship to bear fruit, both must have a vision. The mentee must want more for their lives: they must dream big, put in the work and trust in the mentor. The mentee must also want to make a difference – personal, professional, local, global – they must want change.

As a mentee I strongly believe in “waking up, dressing up and showing up”. This means making time outside my schedule to be where the opportunities exist or where I can meet new people. I also maintain my relationships. We all work better when there is trust involved and dropping that simple email/phone call/text message/Skype call to find out how someone is doing – and actually meaning it – makes all the difference.

The most exciting and rewarding outcome for a visionary mentor-mentee relationship is the awakening of the entrepreneurial spirit. An entrepreneur is someone who solves problems, is courageous enough to take risks, stands by their decisions and charts new paths for themselves. It is more than just starting a business. Are my mentees finding new ways to solve problems? Are they putting themselves out there and taking risks? Are they doing their research and voicing their opinions? This, to me, is entrepreneurship.

Most of my mentees are young women but recently I have started to mentor young men. This has led to two ‘aha’ moments. The first, is we need more male mentors. These young men are hungry for knowledge, skills, opportunities and a listening ear. They want someone to say, “I am here for you”. They have been somewhat forgotten and told to figure things out on their own.  The second, is that I have been too soft on my female mentees. As much as this is an issue of confidence, self-esteem and gender norms, I need to push my young mentees to demand more, voice their opinions, to seek more opportunities and ask more questions.

Through my experiences, I’ve discovered that mentors and mentees really need each other – one cannot exist without the other.  We exist in a brave new world and regardless of what stage we are in our lives we cannot do it on our own. As mentors we need to create new pathways so we can lead our mentees down well-trodden roads. Inspiring, connecting with and leading them, is on its own a system of transformation.

About Angela Nzioki

For her leadership and social entrepreneurship work with Pluspeople Kenya and as an individual, Angela was recognized as a finalist in the Zambezi Prize, presented by the Legatum Center at MIT and The MasterCard Foundation. She was also one of only 10 participants in the Skoll World Forum Young Leaders Initiative 2016, which recognizes young leaders in the field of social entrepreneurship; and is a 2016 Mandela Washington Fellow, Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI).